ajlemm Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 7 minutes ago, StarWasOverrated said: CesarioWasOverrated. You are the only one that can get away with that statement... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FTNK Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 re: the news- praise jah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cixelsyd Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 I would like to hear what "the DCI Artistic Director" role actually entails. DCI already has nearly 200 artistic directors among its 46 corps. I would like to hear how appointing one person as "the Artistic Director" does not work in opposition to the diversity of creative ideas we could otherwise have in this activity. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdaddy Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 When I first saw the OP, I was hoping Michael Gray would be interested in succeeding Cesario. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim K Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 2 hours ago, cixelsyd said: I would like to hear what "the DCI Artistic Director" role actually entails. DCI already has nearly 200 artistic directors among its 46 corps. I would like to hear how appointing one person as "the Artistic Director" does not work in opposition to the diversity of creative ideas we could otherwise have in this activity. I've wondered the same thing. I know he advises many designers, gets blamed when things are not well received and seems friendly enough on the Legacy videos. Love him or not, he knows his stuff. One of the things I believe he did well was stress the importance of engaging both the judges and the audience. Though there has never been a time I did not appreciate the talent of the members or the difficulty of shows, there were some years where I was impressed but not necessarily amazed or enthralled with some shows. I had been around a while and loved the competitive aspect and certainly enjoyed some of what I saw, but had I been a newcomer who had never seen a show, I'm not sure I would have been hooked. About 2011 or so you began seeing shows that were audience friendly and sophisticated, something Michael Cessario pushed. Now I know this has been said before, and some will claim it was more of a ticket sales/monetary matter rather than an artistic trend, but the last time I remember being as excited about drum corps as I have been for the past five years was the 1980's, another period that had a creative surge with audiences engaged. So. Michael Cessario has made important contributions and should be thanked and appreciated, but if as the OP suggested we may be losing or perhaps even lost what is essential to the activity, now may be a time to address this, Of course knowing the battle will be in deciding what is essential. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwillis35 Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 Michael Cessario was truly one of the greats! A good guy who loved this activity and it's sad he is stepping down. He has served DCI well and it will take an amazing talent to fill his shoes. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfirwin3 Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 3 hours ago, flammaster said: That really swashed my buckle! They... They're CRABBING OFF THE FIIIEEEEELLLD! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfirwin3 Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 I think it is hard to say that some of the challenges that he made to the various organizations didn't improve the experience of going to shows... any show. I recall the specific direction in 2011 that each corps should focus on entertainment and identity in their productions. I believe that the argument was that throughout the history of DCI, it was observable that contending (and winning) nearly always shared an element of accessibility and entertainment. That observation defies some of the artsy-fartsy conventional thinking about the kind of "material" that is needed to score well. In the end, that was one of the most pleasant years to go to a show in recent history. The corps all responded with highly entertaining programs that sacrificed nothing in quality or "art". They have maintained a pretty good pace on entertainment since then as well... I suppose the credit belongs to Cessario and his compelling arguments to put the experience of viewers first. That's a refreshing philosophy... that the quality of the art in this activity (no matter how progressive) should be driven by the positive experience of the viewer. He seemed to understand that the number one job in a performance art form is to perform FOR people... rather than in spite of them or indifferent to them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeN Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 Cesario was very vocal, funny enough, in pushing that each corps *should* have a distinctive voice and be rewarded for it. He pushed Madison's revival in 2010 very hard. So our choreographer and fashion designer Artistic Director retires, and is replaced by a professional drill writer. Can the next guy (or gal) please have something to do with the actual music side of things? Mike 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfirwin3 Posted June 21, 2017 Share Posted June 21, 2017 Just now, Tim K said: I've wondered the same thing. I know he advises many designers, gets blamed when things are not well received and seems friendly enough on the Legacy videos. Love him or not, he knows his stuff. One of the things I believe he did well was stress the importance of engaging both the judges and the audience. Though there has never been a time I did not appreciate the talent of the members or the difficulty of shows, there were some years where I was impressed but not necessarily amazed or enthralled with some shows. I had been around a while and loved the competitive aspect and certainly enjoyed some of what I saw, but had I been a newcomer who had never seen a show, I'm not sure I would have been hooked. About 2011 or so you began seeing shows that were audience friendly and sophisticated, something Michael Cessario pushed. Now I know this has been said before, and some will claim it was more of a ticket sales/monetary matter rather than an artistic trend, but the last time I remember being as excited about drum corps as I have been for the past five years was the 1980's, another period that had a creative surge with audiences engaged. So. Michael Cessario has made important contributions and should be thanked and appreciated, but if as the OP suggested we may be losing or perhaps even lost what is essential to the activity, now may be a time to address this, Of course knowing the battle will be in deciding what is essential. ^this pretty much sums it up, as I understand it. I think the post is essentially DCI's program artistic 'whip' to try to analyse and then convey to the various corps the perspectives that keep the activity in the good graces of the paying public. Nobody HAS to do what the artistic director 'says'... but with someone watching your back like that... why wouldn't you listen and factor in the advice? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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